It was back in April 2003 that Everton finally shelved plans to move from Goodison Park to a 55,000 capacity stadium at King’s Dock. The new development had the backing of most Evertonians, it was walking distance from the city centre and it was much more than just a football stadium – King’s Dock was an impressive project in terms of its scale and ambition.

The site would have been home to a ‘housing and leisure complex’ as well as a conference centre, all for an estimated cost of £300m. It also drew a few envious glances from the red half of Merseyside whilst they were struggling – and still struggle – to get plans to leave Anfield off the drawing board.

Funding for King’s Dock would come from a combination of private investors, Liverpool City Council, the North West Development Agency and English Partnerships (formerly the national regeneration agency for England until it was disbanded in 2008), as well as Everton.

The story of how that dream eventually died is complex, as various businesses stated their intentions to invest and one by one withdrew their interest. But purely from Everton’s standpoint, the club had to pull out when it failed to generate the initial £30m needed to buy a 50 per cent stake in the stadium.

The collapse of King’s Dock has proven to be a significant landmark in Everton’s history. As former club captain Kevin Ratcliffe said: ‘That one was the big one. Every time I drive past that place I think of what may have been.’

Instead the club’s debts have continued to spiral upwards, deprived of the extra income King’s Dock may have provided. The subsequent plan to move to a new stadium in Kirkby, on the outskirts of the city, polarised opinion. It failed to get the necessary planning permission.

And so the club stagnates. Chairman Bill Kenwright has failed in his attempts to attract a buyer, a depressing state of affairs for Evertonians which reached its nadir when it was suggested in a leaked transcript of an interview with Kenwright that a man claiming to be the head of ICI in East Asia came forward with a proposal for a takeover when, in reality, he was living in a one-bedroom flat.

Whilst a new owner isn’t always the solution to a club’s problems – they often arrive in a blaze of glory, promise the manager unlimited funds and then fail to deliver – Everton can only look on enviously at how fortune has favoured Manchester City.

Ironically, just a few months after the plug got pulled on King’s Dock, City moved into its new stadium at Eastlands, just over a mile away from the Manchester city centre. Built to host the 2002 Commonwealth Games, the local council struck a deal with Manchester City to become its new tenants. The cost of taking away the running track and replacing it with another level of seats came in at £30m.

The failure of King’s Dock is even more profound when set against what has happened to City. Everton’s proud history has counted for nothing because any new investor looking to buy the club would do so in the knowledge that they would inherit a stadium that, while steeped in history and atmosphere, is in serious need of a facelift. Yet to leave Goodison Park would mean a great deal of expense. Then there's the issue of finding a suitable location.

To invest in City has simply meant, in short term at least, to invest in strengthening the team. Who wants to spend millions on bricks and mortar, steadily building foundations, when they could be spending it on Silva and Toure to challenge for the title?

Plenty of neutrals, along with supporters of Manchester United and Spurs, will be cheering on Everton against City – a club that was once the poor relation among the giants in the north-west. Now it is Everton who play the role of underdog when it could have been so different.